SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: Could Major League Baseball get the big-market World Series of its dreams, plus WNBA finals and a new NHL season with a new team. Meadowlark Media's Howard Bryant joins us. Howard, thanks so much for being with us.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. How are you?
SIMON: I'm fine. There were two...
BRYANT: (Laughter).
SIMON: ...Very strong games last night - the New York Mets 12-6 over the LA Dodgers to force Game 6 in the National League Championship series. And in the American League, Yankees won 8-6 - it was a close game - to take a 3-1 series over the Cleveland Guardians. Cleveland rocks.
BRYANT: (Laughter) I've been waiting for it.
SIMON: I know. Look, could - after 43 years, could Major League Baseball have the Dodgers versus Yankees in the World Series?
BRYANT: Well, it's been a long time coming. And, you know, the ratings people over there - no disrespect to our friends in Cleveland - but you know when...
SIMON: Cleveland rocks.
BRYANT: ...When Cleveland's had the propensity for these massive comebacks late in games, you know, the ratings people who want that coast-to-coast World Series are like, come on, man. But it has been great baseball.
SIMON: Yes.
BRYANT: It's been tremendous. The games in Cleveland have been ridiculous in terms of the late-game comebacks. The Yankees had a chance to go up 3-0, and then Cleveland came back and won that game. The Yankees were up 6-2 last night, and Cleveland came back and tied that game before the Yankees came back...
SIMON: Yep.
BRYANT: ...To win that. And the Mets have been a terrific story as well. It's been...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...I was happy to see them win last night, simply for the theater of it. It would have been very difficult to have them have this great run - they've been a really, really good team all year - and then just to come home and get smashed three games in a row. So it's good that we've got a Game 6 going back to LA. But one of the things about this, Scott, that's been sort of fascinating, as well, has really been everything we've been talking about all season long. You watch the games all this time, and then all the bullpens are tired.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: And so it's turned into this sort of circus, this incredibly entertaining circus, because everybody is gassed. They've been throwing...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Baseballs since the second week of February, and you can see how tired the arms are. You can see how everyone - it's become a marathon. But it's a pretty exciting marathon, as it is.
SIMON: Sure.
BRYANT: But it would be nice to go back to the days where you sort of knew, at some point, that a starting pitcher wasn't going to get a medal for only going four innings.
SIMON: Yeah. Like, WNBA, Minnesota Links beat the New York Liberty 82-80 last night. Game 5 is on Sunday. Winner takes all. Who do you like?
BRYANT: Oh, winner take all - you got to - do you go with the New York Liberty, considering that they've been so close for all these years? This is, I think, the fifth time they've had a chance to win the championship and haven't gotten there. They lose to the Aces last year. They avenged that this year. They are a game away from winning the championship last night and find a way to lose a really tight game. Minnesota's a good team. Minnesota is a very, very good team. So I don't want to make this all about New York, even though you had a shot to get the Yankees, the Mets and the Liberty all playing for championships. But at the same...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Time, when you watch these games, they're really, really tight. And the Liberty must be kicking themselves for having a 15-point lead with five minutes to go in...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Game 2, and now you have to play a winner-take-all game at home - really difficult. But this is why they - this is why you play for these championships. And I feel sort of bad in some ways for Breanna Stewart because she had a really tough game last year in a Game 4 closeout - 3 for 17. And then last night, she goes 5 for 21. So this is it. This is why I'm sitting in the stands watching the game, and this is why the pros are doing what they do. All kinds of pressure, everything on the line.
SIMON: Just got a note - NHL season underway. The brand-new Utah Hockey Club - I want to share with you, Howard, my name - suggested name for them. Ready?
BRYANT: Yeah, go.
SIMON: Utah Salt.
BRYANT: (Laughter).
SIMON: Shake the salt.
BRYANT: Shake the salt. The Morton salt girl out there as well. New hockey in a new market - looking forward to it.
SIMON: Howard Bryant, thanks so much.
BRYANT: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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